BAN's mission is to champion global environmental health and justice by ending toxic trade, catalyzing a toxics-free future, and campaigning for everyone’s right to a clean environment
BAN proudly cherishes the following values:
Right to a healthy environment: All species have a fundamental right to a flourishing environment.
Earth economics: We believe in an economic system that is economically efficient, environmentally sustainable, and socially just.
Production and consumption sustainability: We promote production systems and consumption patterns that are environmentally sustainable and socially just.
Precautionary principle: In the absence of conclusive scientific proof, we err on the side of protecting human and environmental health from potential threats.
Environmental democracy: We support full transparency and the right-to-know. NGOs and individuals alike require free access to information and to meetings of governments and inter-governmental bodies, especially as they relate to human and environmental health.
Environmental justice: No one should be disproportionately burdened by environmental harm or be disenfranchised from decisions that affect their health and that of their environment.
The right to occupational safety: All laborers have a fundamental human right to a safe job and just workplace.
Right to design: We believe the public has the right to be a part of product or technology design decisions that will impact them and our shared planet.
Cost internalization: All costs, such as harm to human or environmental health, should be included in the marketplace. All polluters should pay, preferably by preventing the pollution in the first place. This polluter-pays principle must be comprehensive enough to include hidden costs and other externalities not presently accounted for.
Corporate social responsibility: Corporations must be accountable to the societies in which they operate. Corporations serve the public interest in addition to their shareholders and investors, and so should demonstrate responsibility by proactively ensuring sustainability, social justice, and profitability. Corporate owners and officers are liable for harm caused.
Full safety data required for all chemicals: No chemical or material should be introduced into the marketplace without full testing and disclosure of relative safety and harm, both acute and chronic.
Preventing toxic waste dumping with trade barriers is necessary: Waste shouldn’t be allowed to move across borders to take advantage of cost externalities for economic gain. Purely economic motivations result in toxic waste's flowing to the poorest countries with the least protections. As toxic waste management can never be 100% safe, it is inherently unjust to burden poor countries with wastes from the developed world. International trade barriers are warranted and must be respected and strengthened.
National self-sufficiency in hazardous waste management: Hazardous wastes should be managed domestically as much as possible.
Recycling is an incomplete solution: Recycling is an imperfect and temporary solution to the production and consumption of wastes, especially hazardous wastes. We must work toward waste prevention, product re-use, and toxics elimination.
Waste prevention: The ultimate solution to hazardous waste and pollution is prevention – simply not creating it in the first place. Preventing waste is always better than managing or mitigating waste. We all have a responsibility to replace more hazardous substances with less hazardous ones. We advocate for eliminating toxic substances and technologies in product and process design.